Tag Archives: TV & Radio
B’z x WOWOW Special Program to Start Airing in April
News 
Japanese pay-TV channel WOWOW is going to air a series of B’z specials starting from April 12, 2018 to commemorate the band’s 30th anniversary. The first in the series to air on April 12 will feature the band’s history from their debut in 1988 to the year just before their 15th anniversary — 2002. In addition, they will present live footage of all the singles released within that time frame. Furthermore, the program will provide an early look at the upcoming 30th anniversary exhibition titled “SCENES”. Further special programs will be announced on the channel’s dedicated WOWOW x B’z webpage.
WOWOW has previously aired a special program commemorating their 25th anniversary titled “ONLY TWO” in 2012.
B’z Performing “Itsuka no Merry Christmas”, “Still Alive” on CDTV
News 
It has just been announced that in two weeks, on Christmas Day, B’z will be performing on CDTV Special! Christmas Music Festival 2017. The nearly four-hour program will feature a variety of artists including not only B’z but BoA, Kana Nishino, and Back Number with more to be announced soon. The band will be showcasing their seminal Christmas classic “Itsuka no Merry Christmas” and recent single “Still Alive“.
The seasonal classic has been performed on television numerous times in the past—its last televised showing coming in 2005—and may be looking at an inclusion on this month’s B’z LIVE-GYM 2017-2018 “LIVE DINOSAUR”.
B’z Perform “Ichibu to Zenbu” & “Still Alive” on FNS Music Festival
News 
B’z have just wrapped up their appearance on the 2017 FNS Music Festival aired on Fuji TV in Japan. The event, which will continue with a second day next week, sees artists perform more than once over the course of the evening. B’z first appeared on the stage to perform the modern megahit “Ichibu to Zenbu”. The song, despite being released in 2009, was first performed on television as part of Music Station SUPER LIVE 2012 and later on LIVE MONSTER in 2015.
Later in the show, B’z returned to perform their most recent single “Still Alive” from earlier this summer.
Images courtesy of @mahime1091783 & @orange0799
B’z Rock Best Artist 2017 with “Still Alive”
News 
B’z have just wrapped up their appearance on Nippon TV’s Best Artist 2017 program with the debut television performance of “Still Alive“. The appearance comes on the eve of the release for their twentieth studio album DINOSAUR. The band appeared for a brief interview beforehand prior to a video package being run featuring footage from ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2017. The band were supported by Barry Sparks on bass and Shane Gaalaas on drums.
Tak also brought back his first ever Gibson signature guitar: the 1999 Gibson Les Paul Tak Matsumoto Signature model in Canary Yellow. This is the guitar’s first appearance on a live stage in sixteen years after last being seen for B’z LIVE-GYM 2001 “ELEVEN”. The guitar was supplanted later by the Tak Burst model before he segued to his Double Cutaway models beginning in 2004. Given the band’s thirtieth anniversary is coming next year, it’s possible Tak will be revisiting many of his older guitars for the upcoming tours.
Tak performing the finger tap solo for “Still Alive” with his original signature guitar
DINOSAUR Commercial Now Airing (With Koshi as Narrator?)
News The first television commercial for the upcoming B’z studio album DINOSAUR is now on air. The ad features new footage of an apparent music video for album song “CHAMP” and recent single “Still Alive“. Its original premiere came during a recent episode of the anime series Detective Conan. B’z have provided the series numerous theme songs over the years, beginning with “girigiri chop” in 1999. Many of the songs used in the series since its infancy have been supplied by fellow Being artists and thus their works are often advertised during airings.
Interestingly, Japanese fans are speculating that the narrator of the commercial is Koshi Inaba himself. It certainly sounds like him and the English—specifically the pronunciation of the album’s title—is appropriately on point, if so.
B’z to Perform on 2017 FNS Music Festival
News 
On December 6, B’z will perform on the first night of Fuji TV’s 2017 FNS Music Festival. It is unknown which song they will perform as of the initial announcement. Other popular Japanese acts such as Mai Kuraki, TOKIO and Arashi are also scheduled to make an appearance on the same night.
